PA passes two bills sans Opp’s resistance

LAHORE:Is it a failed strategy of Opposition or its match fixing with the government in Punjab Assembly as the Treasury quite comfortably passed two bills on Monday in the session which had been summoned on the requisition of PML-N.

The two bills passed by the PA included the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment Bill) 2020 and the Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Council (Amendment) Bill-2020. This is interesting to note that on the first day of the ongoing session, the government had laid seven ordinances all of whom were referred to the Standing Committee by the chair. The government didn’t face any noticeable resistance from Opposition and remained successful in carrying out legislation of its own choice in the session summoned on the requisition of Opposition.

Earlier, the PA session began with a delay of nearly one hour headed by Chairman Mian Shafi Muhammad. The Opposition MPAs held the Punjab government responsible for the Corona spread and Awais Leghari, the PML-N MPA from Dera Ghazi Khan said that situation of quarantine centre situated at Expo Centre was so miserable that it couldn’t be explained. He said it was regretful that Punjab Health Minister didn’t even bother to telephone the doctors who contracted Corona in Multan. Awais Leghari said that the government hadn’t been able to devise any strategy to counter corona. He further said that the data about corona patients provided by the government wasn’t credible and called for reviewing the decision on lockdown withdrawal.

Khawaja Imran Nazir, former Health Minister of Punjab while speaking on the floor of the House stated that the Opposition since day one had come up with suggestions to control corona but the government paid no heed towards this issue. He said that all the claims by the government to control Corona were exposed badly and its negligence was visible at Taftan Border. Imran Nazir said the government was busy in targeting the opponents instead of fulfilling its responsibilities. Moreover, Muaviya Azam Tariq, MPA and head of Rah-e-Haq Party, an ally of the PTI government in Punjab, demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan present an 'interest-free budget' for the year 2020-21 if he believed in the vision of Riyast-e-Madina. He said the government at one hand talked about Riyast-e-Madina but on other hand, it couldn’t present an interest-free budget last year. He said for one year, people of Kashmir suffered a lockdown and the entire world was facing the wrath of Allah now.

Meanwhile, a PTI legislator Musarrat Jamshed Cheema submitted a resolution in Punjab Assembly Secretariat paying rich tribute to Major Muhammad Asghar of Pakistan Army who lost his life while combating Corona. Major Asghar was posted at Torkham Border where he had contracted Coronavirus.